Adam Berry/Getty Images
“Cyberchondria” is a term used to describe a condition of anxiety borne from researching and reading online information pertaining to one’s health symptoms. In laymen’s terms: When one develops a common health problem such as a cold and uses search engines to self-diagnose, the most immediate information available often does not help properly diagnose, and instead contributes to escalated concern that one has a much graver condition. Now, Google is experimenting with a new search tool that could potentially stem this tendency, and which is in line with the company’s recent efforts to a build a stronger presence in the medical and health spheres.
Google’s new function was originally posted as a screenshot by a Reddit user on October 9, and reveals an option to “talk to a doctor now” when the user searched for “knee pain”. The function would mitigate the “cyberchondria” problem by connecting users with certified healthcare practitioners via video chat sessions instead of leaving them to the mercy of Yahoo Answers. Google has partnered with medical groups such as Scripps Health and One Medical, which will make their doctors available for this service. The search company has also said that this function is HIPAA compliant.
Google has made a few other moves into the healthcare space and medical communities, although its development of the glucose-reading contact lens was a bit more high-profile than this tweak to its search function. The integration of medicine and online-based services has been a booming market over the last few years as mobile health applications and web-based care become more acceptable to both patients and doctors. Indeed, health tech is set to continue its growth as funding for healthcare startups increases. Google Ventures has been a big proponent of investigations into how technologies like big data can aid research on cancer and other public health problems.
It’s clear that the company intends to be at the forefront of the telemedicine industry, even as it moves to power smaller startups. But there is still room for everyone to have a piece of the pie; a December 2013 report from Research and Markets forecasted that the global telemedicine market, which clocked in at $14.2 billion in 2012, will have a compound annual growth rate of 18.5% through 2018. It’s anyone’s game, and enabling doctor-patient video-chat sessions through Google is a useful place to start.
